Margins for most service providers are razor thin. Many are asking: How can we add new, breakthrough value to customers? What new sources of revenue can we tap? Many are turning to managed services. In doing so, they are generating new, recurring revenue from services that complement their core business and add significant value to customers. It’s a win-win strategy. This paper will be invaluable if you are a service provider, concerned about commoditization, and interested in learning about a proven business transformation strategy that has been successfully deployed by over 2,500 MSP partners worldwide. Learn more.

By Gil Cargill
Welcome to my nine-week sales acceleration program. During the next nine weeks, this newsletter will publish one chapter from a book that I am developing. Our overarching purpose in writing this book is to help the 21st-century sales professional understand that the rules of the road have clearly changed and that our old strategies and tactics don't work.

How many different vendors do your clients have to deal with? Printer guys, phone people, security systems … the list goes on. Simplify life for your clients by offering vendor management as a service.

In some ways, computers are a lot like the people who use them. Take our ability to withstand extreme temperatures, for instance. A frigid day that arrives unannounced in the middle of a heat wave feels much colder, while we can generally get ourselves used to the cold when days get slowly and incrementally chillier.

Video surveillance is a booming business, and installations become larger and larger. At the same time, several studies have highlighted the hit and miss nature of human intervention to spot change in a surrounding environment. And the challenge becomes larger as systems expand.

By Russ Harty
Retailers often spend significant time determining the layout, décor, and other aesthetic aspects of their shops. They rightly focus on ensuring a consistent brand experience exists for customers throughout the store. Yet businesses that have wanted their countertop devices to fit in with their brand image often have limited options.

Channel Transitions, powered by Business Solutions Magazine, is a one-day education and networking conference designed to help VAR/MSP executives learn how to best implement and manage the "as a Service" model. The event will feature real-world, nuts-and-bolts, headaches-and-heartaches discussions and success stories on the transition.